Rating: R
Genre:
Science Fiction
Release Date: 10/14/2003
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 138 Minutes
Flags: Sexual Situations, Sci-Fi Violence
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
After creating an international sensation with the visually dazzling and intellectually challenging
sci-fi blockbuster
The Matrix, the
Wachowski brothers returned with the first of two projected sequels that pick up where the first film left off.
Neo (
Keanu Reeves) and
Trinity (
Carrie-Anne Moss) have been summoned by
Morpheus (
Laurence Fishburne) to join him on a voyage to Zion, the last outpost of free human beings on Earth.
Neo and
Trinity's work together has been complicated by the fact the two are involved in a serious romantic relationship. Upon their arrival in Zion,
Morpheus locks horns with rival
Commander Lock (
Harry J. Lennix) and encounters his old flame
Niobe (
Jada Pinkett Smith). Meanwhile,
Agent Smith (
Hugo Weaving) has returned with some surprises for
Neo, most notably the ability to replicate himself as many times as he pleases.
Neo makes his way to
The Oracle (
Gloria Foster), who informs him that if he wishes to save humankind, he must unlock "The Source," which means having to release
The Key Maker (
Randall Duk Kim) from the clutches of
Merovingian (
Lambert Wilson). While
Merovingian refuses to cooperate, his wife,
Persephone (
Monica Bellucci), angry at her husband's dalliances with other women, offers to help, but only in exchange for a taste of
Neo's affections. With
The Keymaker in tow,
Neo,
Trinity, and
Morpheus are chased by
Merovingian's henchmen: a pair of deadly albino twins (
Neil Rayment and
Adrian Rayment). Filmed primarily in Australia and California (the extended chase scene was shot on a stretch of highway build specifically for the production outside of San Francisco),
The Matrix Reloaded was produced in tandem with the third film in the series,
The Matrix Revolutions.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide